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TRESPASS
Wolf At The Door

From The Vaults (2023)
Rating: 8.5/10

Mark Sutcliffe (vocals and guitar) is not a name that has embedded itself into the annals of UK heavy metal for some, but to those in the know he was the co-founder of Trespass – alongside Dave Crawte (guitar), Richard Penny (bass) and brother Paul Sutcliffe (drums) – who in 1979 embarked on a short career, resulting in two singles and an EP, before splitting in 1982.

Trespass resurfaced in 1993 with a debut full-length album, Head, which made no impact in a grunge-infested climate. Even so, the band refused to die and returned once again with a self-titled album in 2015, and then three years later Trespass, now featuring Mark Sutcliffe and three new members – Joe Fawcett (guitar), Danny Biggin (bass) and Jason Roberts (drums) – released the album Footprints In The Dark to little acclaim.

It’s now 2023 and Trespass is back again, only this time Wil Wilmot has taken over bass duties. In spite of the line-up changes over the years, which one can somewhat expect with a band that’s been around so long, Trespass has always put out decent music and Wolf At The Door is no exception. And the charm from the early years still remains, particularly in Mark Sutcliffe’s vocals and soulful axe playing.

With dashes of Blue Öyster Cult, Thin Lizzy and a quintessentially British atmosphere, this gem of an outing is a fine slab of traditional heavy rock that is oaken yet fluid to its core. While not as bombastic or Gothic as Holocaust, or as galloping as Iron Maiden, or as sturdily satanic as Witchfynde, Trespass have a certain guile and slickness as well as subtlety and soul, especially on a track like ‘Stranger In Paradise’. But the main element to the Trespass sound is the organic melodies which run rich with experience.

Opener ‘Blackthorn’ feels so nostalgic, almost like a lost track plucked from their unreleased archives and re-imagined and laced with that Blue Öyster Cult mysticism and fragility. And then there are the rockers; ‘Daggers Drawn’ with its almost Gothic drive, ‘Force Of Nature’ with its classic New Wave Of British Heavy Metal steel, and the Judas Priest-styled ‘Crooked Cross’. In fact, all of the 11 tracks on offer here are so wonderfully crafted and delivered with such grace that you’d think that Trespass were on a par with Iron Maiden in regards to output and success, but as we all know it’s not always the best bands who reach the dizzy heights.

Get Trespass on a bill with Black Rose, Desolation Angels and Holocaust and you’ll be in for quite a treat. It’s a shame then that this effortless outing won’t reach the masses, but the least you can do if you’re reading this review is spread the word. Songs like ‘Ghost Pilot’, ‘Back To The Woods’ and the struttin’ title track are wistful, evocative and catchy numbers that any self-respecting rocker should own. Wolf At The Door is proof that you don’t need to teach old gods new tricks, because they are the masters of magic.

Neil Arnold

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